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Gender Studies

From WID to GAD: Conceptual Shifts in the Women and Development Discourse Shahrashoub Razavi Carol Miller

Occasional Paper 1, February 1995

United Nations Research Institute for Social Development United Nations Development Programme

The United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) is an autonomous agency that engages in multi-disciplinary research on the social dimensions of contemporary problems affecting development. Its work is guided by the conviction that, for effective development policies to be formulated, an understanding of the social and political context is crucial. The Institute attempts to provide governments, development agencies, grassroots organizations and scholars with a better understanding of how development policies and processes of economic, social and environmental change affect different social groups. Working through an extensive network of national research centres, UNRISD aims to promote original research and strengthen research capacity in developing countries. Current research themes include Crisis, Adjustment and Social Change; SocioEconomic and Political Consequences of the International Trade in Illicit Drugs; Environment, Sustainable Development and Social Change; Integrating Gender into Development Policy; Participation and Changes in Property Relations in Communist and Post-Communist Societies; and Political Violence and Social Movements. UNRISD research projects focused on the 1995 World Summit for Social Development include Rethinking Social Development in the 1990s; Economic Restructuring and Social Policy; Ethnic Diversity and Public Policies; and The Challenge of Rebuilding War-torn Societies. A list of the Institute’s free and priced publications can be obtained from the Reference Centre.

United Nations Research Institute for Social Development Palais des Nations 1211 Geneva 10 Switzerland ( (41.22) 798.84.00/798.58.50 Fax (41.22) 740.07.91 Note: The pagination of the electronic version of this paper may differ from the printed publication.

PrefaceThe Fourth World Conference on Women, to be held in Beijing in September 1995, provides an opportunity for the world community to focus attention on areas of critical concern for women worldwide — concerns that stem from social problems embracing both men and women, and that require solutions affecting both genders. One of the main objectives of the Conference is to adopt a platform for action, concentrating on some of the key areas identified as obstacles to the advancement of women. UNRISD’s work in preparation for the Fourth World Conference on Women focuses on two of the themes highlighted by the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women: · inequality in women’s access to and participation in the definition of economic structures and policies and the productive process itself; and · insufficient institutional mechanisms to promote the advancement of women. The...

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...﻿Terms
Audre Lorde: a black lesbian feminist socialist; uses poetry to address issues of “difference” such as sexism, ageism, and racism; aims to encourage oppressed members of society to stretch out and bridge the gap between the actualities of our lives and the consciousness of our oppressor
Sisterhood: underlying idea that women can relate through their gender, while not undermining their ‘sisters’ experiences of race, sexuality, sex, class, gender. Relations of mutuality, co-responsibility, and common interests anchor the idea of feminist solidarity.
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Jardinero Masculinity: This term refers to the masculinity constructed by Mexican immigrants who are gardeners and field workers. They are intertwined with daily performance of masculinized “dirty” work in private residences.
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Gender issues have been plaguing our society for several centuries. Discrimination against women exists in every area of life in varying degrees and forms. Women continue to suffer as the most disadvantaged group in spite of the efforts taken by the reformers and the Government. Hence, the concept of gender and Women’s Studies need to be understood to facilitate the process of women empowerment.
1.2 Gender
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...PART ONE
Social and Historical Constructions of Gender
Why start an introduction to women's studies textbook with a discussion of science and medicine? If
we begin our study of women's lives by considering
what makes women and men distinct in different
cultures and time periods, we first have to ask what
counts as difference. Many people think that biology
answers such a question once and for all. But science
(including biology) has a history. People produce
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science creates are often seen as truths that cannot
be challenged. Yet studying the history of science
shows us that ideas and methods have always
changed. Feminists are interested in tracing the
ways that women and men have been identified, described, and categorized by science in any given location and time period. In the case of sex difference,
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